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grrickar
08-18-2004, 18:20
First section hike is coming up, and I had a few questions:

Should I hang my cookware and stove with the food in my bear bag? My thinking is they will still smell like food, even when moderately clean.

When staying in a shelter, it seems that some hang their food inside? I'm saying that based on some posts I have read. Shouldn't it always be hung outside the shelter, to keep the bears, mice, raccoons from nosing around the shelter?

How far away from my tent/the shelter should I hang the food?

Should I hang my pack, to keep varmints from eating the fabric?

Uncle Wayne
08-19-2004, 02:00
When we stay in the shelters, we almost always hang everything we don't need during the night, including our packs outside the shelter. I usually keep a raincoat just in case it's raining the next morning.

When we tent we usually keep our packs in the tent with us. Never had any problems either way.

The shelter rules that are posted in the Smokies ask you to hang your pack and food outside the shelter. It's probably the least obeyed rule on the sheet however. I have a not so good picture of the shelter rules in my photo gallery.

Good luck on your hike.

Jaybird
08-19-2004, 05:12
First section hike is coming up, and I had a few questions:
Should I hang my cookware and stove with the food in my bear bag? My thinking is they will still smell like food, even when moderately clean.
When staying in a shelter, it seems that some hang their food inside? I'm saying that based on some posts I have read. Shouldn't it always be hung outside the shelter, to keep the bears, mice, raccoons from nosing around the shelter? How far away from my tent/the shelter should I hang the food?
Should I hang my pack, to keep varmints from eating the fabric?


GRRICKAR:

I've been hiking for years...section-hikin' the A.T. since 2000. ALWAYS hang your food bag & anything else that will have a "sweet" smell or food smell to a bear...this includes things like toothpaste, deoderant (if you decide to carry any), soap or liquid soap, energybars, GORP, pots & pans if theyve been used for cooking....& ALWAYS, hang the food bags 100 ft or so away from the shelter.

As for your backpack...after youve taken the food & snacks out...keep your zippers open...let the mice run thru the pack....so they wont have to "chew" thru your packside in search of food.

Most shelters on the trail down south have cables away from the shelter to hang food bags.....make sure you secure your bag well....bears (& other critters) are very smart! :D

good luck with yer hike!

Kerosene
08-19-2004, 07:56
If you bear bag from a tree, make sure that you take the time to carefully retrace your steps back to your campsite! Typically you will have to search for the right tree which is frequently off-trail, so remember how you got there and even consider leaving a trail of sticks or rocks to lead you back to the bag. (No, I've never entirely misplaced my food bag, but I'm much more careful after the one time that it took me 5 minutes to find it!). It might also help to use a bright colored bag to make it stand out.

Jersey Bob
08-19-2004, 08:35
at least 10 characters

Peaks
08-19-2004, 09:25
First section hike is coming up, and I had a few questions:

Should I hang my cookware and stove with the food in my bear bag? My thinking is they will still smell like food, even when moderately clean.

When staying in a shelter, it seems that some hang their food inside? I'm saying that based on some posts I have read. Shouldn't it always be hung outside the shelter, to keep the bears, mice, raccoons from nosing around the shelter?

How far away from my tent/the shelter should I hang the food?

Should I hang my pack, to keep varmints from eating the fabric?

The answer all depends on where you are, and if there are active bears in the area. If you are in serious bear country, like at the popular camping spots in the Adirondacks, then you need to use a bear canister for food and everything else with a scent. Bears there can get food down off the best of bear lines.

Generally along the AT, even in bear country such as Georgia, just use the bear cables to hang food and other items with a scent. Probably no need to hang cooking pots that have been cleaned. If there is a bear problem, then there will be a bear cable in place, or a bear box, or there will be notes about bears in the shelter register.

Other places along the AT where bears are not active, such as say Pennsylvania, then mice are more of a problem. So, hang your food bag and trash from one of the hangers in the shelters, and hang the rest of your pack from one of the nails or pegs in the side of the shelter. No need to put up an outside bear line. Also, always open all zippers so the mice and go in and out and check out the inside of your pack without chewing their way in.

Bears know where to look for any easy meal. So, if you camp away from shelters and established tenting areas, then you will not have a problem, even in bear country. However, common sense still tells you to hang your food and trash at night.

Lobo
08-19-2004, 10:12
Many years ago I was backpacking with a friend and spent the night at one of the Birch Run shelters in PA. We hung our food bag and trash in a plastic bag (rain was in the forecast) from the limb of a nearby tree. Shortly after dark we heard the sound of shredding plastic. When we aimed our flashlights toward our hanging bag we were suprised to see a pair of flying squirrels ripping their way to our food! The lights scared them away and they didn't return..

JP
08-19-2004, 12:20
Dont forget to hang your water bottle if you have put any drinks other than water in it. I saw a bear in the Smokies tear up a pack to get a canteen that had a rootbeer mix in it.

Footslogger
08-21-2004, 13:39
There are "guidelines" but truly no absolute answers to your questions regarding hanging food and pots and pans. Everyone's experience is a bit different in this area and regions of the trail vary in terms of bear and varmint activity. You can pretty much count on 100% presence of mice and chipmonks in established campsite, both in and around shelters. Bears tend to return to sites where they have gotten an easy meal in the past and generally those areas become well known and communicated during the hiking season.

In general, it's a good idea (common sense-wise) to separate yourself from your food at night. If you do a reasonably good job of cleaning out your cookpot there is a fairly high probability that animals won't have much interest in it. Getting your food bag up and off the ground is better because it is somewhat out of reach. Notice I said ..."somewhat". When you stay in a shelter you will eventially no doubt witness a skillful mouse or chipmonk walking a beam or line in the shelter and traveling easily from food bag to food bag. What tends to discourage them from actually getting into the foodbags is the bag material itself or the presence of a small can placed on the line just above the level of the food bag.

As far as bears go ...if there is a bold one in the area, hanging the bags in the shelter is somewhat of a waste of time and effort. It's been my experience that most bears (black bears, that is) are reluctant to approach a shelter full of hikers unless they've scored food there in the past.

From what I've seen, most hikers tend to hang their food bags away from the shelters or tents at first and then get more careless (or confident, depending on your perspective) as they make their way up the trail. By the time they get to Katahdin or the end of their respective hikes, some of them keep their food bags in their tents or hang them inside the shelters.

I guess the bottom line is ...how high are your security needs ?? Are you willing to save the time it takes to throw a line over a branch and hang your food or play the odds and go with the convenience approach and keep your food bag close at hand.

Bon appetit and happy trails ...

'Slogger
AT 2003

grrickar
08-21-2004, 13:55
I have decided that to be on the safe side I will hang the pots and pans plus the food. One side benefit is that if something does manage to get to the bag (squirrel or something) then possibly it will rattle the pans inside and chase it away. I figure better to be safe than sorry. My concern with stuff in the shelter is having mice eat holes in my gear. For that reason, I'm going to probably hang my pack as well. One thing I did think about was that when I hang my pack I plan to take my compass with me. Once I find a suitable tree and get the bag hung, I will take a bearing to the shelter and count the paces. Then in the morning I should be able to find the bag, even if it isn't quite daylight yet by reversing my course. I also thought about putting a bit of reflective tape on the bag, so shining my headlamp up the in the trees would allow me find the bag easier if it is dark.

I'm not paranoid of bears, but it would bit (no pun intended) to have my food eaten by one or to have my pack/bag/gear chewed on by shelter mice.